The Longest Day Of My Life
by Ceili
Summary: Actually more like 48 crazy hours of competitions, practice and bus rides...This is what it's like when you have two championship competitions less that 24 hours apart...please r/r....3rd chapter is up!
1. It begins.....

The Longest Day of My Life  
By: ~Ceili~  
A long, long span of almost 48 hours and two competitions: LMBA and   
NYSFBC Championships...please r/r  
************************************************************************  
  
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*  
  
I groaned as I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. Or, rather,   
attempted to read the alarm clock. The fact that it was glow-in-the-dark   
only helped me to find it, not to read it. I sighed as I turned off the   
alarm, rolled over on my bed, clutching the clock in my fist, and then   
switched on the lamp. A blinding glare of artificial light flooded the   
room. I blinked and then read the numbers.  
  
"ugh...3:30...." I set the alarm ahead 15 minutes, rolled over, pulled a   
pillow over my head and went back to sleep  
  
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*  
  
I sat up straight, startled. I'd fallen asleep with the alarm clock next  
to my ear. I looked at the clock again. 3:47. I struggled to wake   
myself up enough to make coffee, take a shower, get dressed watch the news  
and pack. I lugged my sleeping bag and my book bag out to my car and then  
lugged myself back inside in search of food. Two bowls of rice krispies,   
a can of Pepsi, and a granola bar later, I was back in my car. It was   
almost 6:30 when I left my house, and it was 6:38 when I realized that I'd   
forgotten my shoes and shoe polish. I hit the road again at 6:45 and barely  
made it to school by 7. I pulled into a parking lot full of kids, instruments,   
luggage, band parents, cars (duh), and, in general, mass confusion. I grinned   
as I stepped out of my car and popped the trunk. A few of my friends   
came over to say hi and more than a few band parents came over to say good luck.   
I fought for a moment with the contents of my trunk, but finally managed to   
carry my saxophone, blanket, book bag, sleeping bag, shoes, sweatshirt and coat   
all in one trip. I dumped my stuff in the band room and then realized that I   
had forgotten my keys in the ignition. I asked an underclassman to run and   
get them for me, so that I could attempt to get myself in some kind of order.   
  
"LINE UP!" Came the call from outside. Time to practice.   
  
In a flash I was outside lined up and ready to practice, along with the rest   
of the band. The members were in rare form that morning, acting like we were   
on top of the world. The rest of us, mostly the older members, were quieter   
than usual. We knew what was riding on today's competition. Two hours later  
small groups of students walked back up to the school, hoping they were ready   
for the show. We went back into the band room to make final preparations to   
leave when we heard someone (probably one of the rookies...I'm not sure) yell  
"HEY LOOK!!! There's the busses!" The band room went from organized chaos  
to...well...non-organized chaos. Everyone, including the Drum Majors and the  
seniors, dashed to the windows. Sure enough there were two coach busses   
pulling into the parking lot. The parents of rookies started crying and   
hugging their children while the chaperones, band kids, and directors started  
loading the busses. About a half hour later everyone and everything was   
loaded onto the bus. The directors were the last to board the bus and, after   
telling us where we were stopping to eat, announced that it was time to leave.   
The engines roared to life as the stereo behind me began to blast the familiar   
melody of "Bohemian Rhapsody." We were on our way....  



	2. The first show....

The Longest Day of My Life  
By: ~Ceili~  
A long, long span of almost 48 hours and two competitions: LMBA and   
NYSFBC Championships...please r/r  
************************************************************************  
  
The bus ride continued as it started, rowdy and noisey. I waited for one   
of the drum majors to say something, but I quickly realized that they were  
encouraging more noise than they were stopping. What else was I expected   
to do? I joined in. We stopped for lunch and everyone scrambled for the  
doors to the resteraunt, including the rookies. The first and second year   
kids scrambled for seats while the Seniors and Juniors shoved around in the   
lines, fighting for the best spots. As soon as the older kids sat down, the  
younger half of the band jumped up and began the fight for line positions  
all over again. Two or three of us made our way out to the bus and listened   
to music while eating lunch. Another kid or two slept in the front of the  
bus, exhausted from the hours we'd been putting in and the late night we'd had  
the night before, coming back from an 'away' football game. Craig cranked the  
stereo, and put in his NIN CD. Soon other kids were straggling out of the   
resteraunt and sat in the back of the bus with us, letting the reality of what   
we were about to do sink in. All the months of sectionals, late practices,   
Saturday morning practices, and endless hours of hard work devoted to the band  
all spent for today and tommorrow. The LMBA(Lakeshore Marching Band Association)   
and NYSFBC (New York State Field Band Conference) Championships. We hadn't had a  
*bad* season, per se, but it was no where near as good as last year's undefeated  
season. We wanted the LMBA first place trophy so bad we could taste it.   
We reached the warm-up area before any other band, even though we were   
scheduled to compete later than most other bands. We quickly changed into our  
uniforms and began to put our instruments together. The routine was the same  
as any other year for championships. Get ready, stay warm, take pictures, warm up,  
and head down to the stadium. I had talked to other bands that had arrived and it  
seemed like we had some really serious competition. I was begining to get nervous.  
My fifth year in band, my fifth year marching on AstroTurf in a packed stadium, my  
fifth year of awards, of hoping and praying, of practice and pain...and I was still  
nervous. We lined up outside the stadium and entered silently, watching out most  
dangerous competition with the grim realization that they might just be better than  
us. I took a deep breath and then turned my attention back to my own performance.   
So what if they thought they were better, so what if they'd beat us before. We'd   
beaten them too. I marched my routine in my head, barely thinking about it at all.   
It was that simple for me now. The band before us left the stadium to their cadence  
and we prepared to go on. "mark time mark" came the almost inaudible command from our  
drum majors "forward move" I marched along proudly as the announcer read our list of  
accomplishments over the past year, and even more proudly when he said "2000 LMBA  
Champions." The tap on the snare drum went from an almost silent rim tap, to a louder   
rim tap, into the cadence. It seemed like it lasted forever, but at the same time it  
felt like it was over before it started. The next 20 minutes were a blur and the next   
thing I knew we were back on the bus, headed for the school in New York where we would   
spend the night. The music played on behind me, 'Smoke' by Ben Folds Five if I remember  
correctly. And then it happened...The Cell Phone rang...It was our Drum major's father   
calling from the stadium with the results...I took a deep breath and waited for our   
director to announce the results he was busily scribbling on a piece of paper.... 


	3. The scores....

The Longest Day of My Life  
By: ~Ceili~  
A long, long span of almost 48 hours and two competitions: LMBA and   
NYSFBC Championships...please r/r  
************************************************************************  
  
We waited in almost-silence for the director to announce the results of the competition. Us older kids were talking quietly in the back, debating on what the scores would be, who would get what caption awards, etc.   
It seemed like forever before he finally put the pen down on the sheet of paper, thanked the parents who had called us, and stood up. The bus went dead silent as he stood. We didn't want to get our hopes up, but we really really wanted to win.   
"I'll go over the caption awards first," He said, holing the pen and paper in one hand and using the other to steady himself. The only light on the bus was from the small reading lights over the seats, so he had to keep leaning over to read the scores.  
"The caption for Best Visual goes to Fairview." Silence  
"The caption for best Music goes to Seneca." We cringed. There were still four captions left but this wasn't looking good.   
"The caption for best winds-" Everyone on the bus held their breath "goes to Northwestern"  
The bus erupted into cheering and screaming and hugging...Then we remembered that our director was standing in front of us, waiting to finish the announcement.   
"Caption for best Visual: Seneca...Caption for best Auxilary: Fairview." A couple girls on from the color guard look really depressed. "And the Final caption for Best General Effect goes to Northwestern" He grinned as he read the last one. Now we were really concerned...there was no way that first second and third places could have gotten the same amount of captions and *not* have came very very close to the same score. What if we lost only by a few tenths of a point...?  
"Hey, quiet down!" Our drum major yelled from the back of the bus "We want to hear the scores!"  
"Alright...In order..." Our band director started "In 10th, 55.20, Sheffield. In 9th, 55.30, Strong Vincent. In 8th, 56.90, Sherman. In 7th, 58.45, Girard. In 6th, 59.25, Otto Eldred. In 5th, 67, Red Bank Valley" I silently grinned...one of my best friends, Elizabeth (lizardbreath), was in Red Bank's band and I was hoping they'd do well "In 4th place, 69.10, East."  
The bus grew silent again. We could've guessed that we would be in the top three, but where in the top three.   
"In 3rd place...with a score of 74.75..." Our director was taking his time announcing everything "Seneca."  
Everyone on the bus gave a collective sigh. One down, one to go.   
"In 2nd place....with a score of 74.95..." Damn that was close...what if this was us? The score wasn't even a full point higher than Seneca's. "Fairview." Our band director was smiling, and we were jumping around, hugging each other, crying...it was amazing.   
"And in first place...with a score of 76.50...for the second year in a row....Northwestern!!!"   
Well, that did it. The overhead lights all went on and everyone was screaming.   
"We won!! We really won!!" someone yelled from the front. I think it was one of the younger kids. The music started playing (We are the champions) as we congratulated each other and began to act normal again.   
"I didn't mean it, Parker...you really don't suck."  
"Neither do you...and don't call me Parker."  
"Our senior year....and we won!"  
"Now it's time to kick it in New York!"  
"When do we get to sleep?"  
"Can we watch a movie?"  
By the time we'd calmed down the bus pulled into a rest stop and the tears and congratulations and screaming and hugging started all over again. The older kids were the first ones off the first bus and we were there to greet the kids from the second bus as they got off. Fifteen long minutes later we were back on the bus and headed for Syracuse.   



End file.
